<-- **** DONE: 1/48 P-38J Hill's Angels - Twin Engined Aircraft of WWII

Good save John.

Nice recovery on the decals John.
I've had on-going 'break up' problems with 'Superscale' decals in the past, possibly due to the fact that they were originally 'Microscal'. from the 1980's, re-issued. I now spray then with artist's gloss acrylic varnish, and let that set, before using them.

Lovely work so far John!

Decal process is on-going. I've decided to forgo most of the upper surface stenciling on this bird. The Cutting Edge sheet has no stencils except for the individual aircraft data plate. Both the Academy and Superscale sheets have black stenciling that is geared towards NMF birds and black stenciling on OD isn't all that visible.

The nose art for Hill's Angels is next. First up is the starboard side of the nose. The artwork decals are separated as two decals: the color background which goes on first and then the black outline. The Cutting Edge decals are nice and thin and have hardly any clear carrier film beyond the edges of the print, making trimming unnecessary. I brush Microset onto the area first and then slide the decal onto the wet model surface. Once the decal is positioned, I "roll" a cotton swab like a squeegee over the decal. This keeps the decal in place and squeezes out excess water and Microset. Take care to make sure the entire decal is lying flat and free of bubbles and wrinkles.


Microsol is brushed gently onto the decal. I like to set this aside for a few hours to let the Microsol do it's thing. The decal surface will wrinkle up and craze but it is important to just leave it alone as it will eventually level out and (hopefully) settle into all of the molded surface detail. The clear carrier film settle nicely into the panel lines but the thicker, colored portions of the decals needed a little help via multiple Microsol applications and finally, a sharp x-acto blade. You can see the panel lines on the "H" and through the girl's ankles.


Since this decal was going to receive another decal on top, I let the Microsol dry for a full day prior to putting the black outline decal. Same steps as above. All of the decals on the starboard side were applied during this stage.


Once the starboard side is done, flipped the plane and decaled the port side. The kill markings are also two-part decals.


The black outline on the lady and the red portions of the kill markings go on top. Note the blank face. This is correct based on archive pictures of Hill's Angels. Not sure if a face was ever added.


Most of the decaling is done. I'll have to seal the decals with another clear coat and begin the weathering process.


My intention is to portray the starboard window rolled up, the port window rolled down and the canopy top in the open position. The top and the starboard window have been painted.

Looking great John, looking forward to the weathering steps...

Nice decals.

Coming to life nicely.

Agreed Andy, looks great John

Looks great with the decals on

Thanks guys!

turbo said:

This project looks like it's testing your patience John, but take a deep breath and carry on - looking good!

Click to expand...

But yeah, this build has been a bit of a struggle. No major catastrophes but niggling things here and there that has been sapping my patience. One of the landing gear legs came loose (snapping the attached actuating rod) during the masking/painting phase. Puttied seams have popped open and the paint job keeps getting nicked up. I just sprayed a clear coat over the decals and blue and white chunks from the star-n-bar on the engine boom flew off due to the air pressure. First time that's ever happened. But progress IS being made and I'm closer to the end than the finish.

Keep at it John, looking good man despite the issues...

Great work so far John!

Thanks all. Time to start the weathering process. The clear coat to seal the decals has fully cured after 24 hours so I can apply a pastel wash to the panel lines. My primary intention is not to highlight the panel lines per se but to "flatten" the physical grooves of the model's recessed panel lines. This is a personal preference. I don't like the appearance of untreated panel lines on a scale model. To me, it looks exactly like it is: a physical groove etched into the surface of the plastic. The panel wash serves to fill that line with a contrasting color and make it appear as a dark line.

Here is the bottom before the process begins.


I'll start on the underside of one of the wings. I use homemade washes using water with the scrapings of an appropriate dark pastel chalk. I put a dab of dish soap in to help the chalk mix into the water.


Using a paintbrush, I brush the dark liquid into all of the panel lines and recessed details and raised details. I've used a dark brown here.


After the wash has dried, it is a simple matter of brushing off the excess with a damp piece of paper towel, leaving behind the wash in the recesses. It's not necessary to remove it completely off of the non-recessed areas... it actually has a nice "dirtying" effect on the finish... but make sure you wipe it off in the direction of airflow.


At this point, I remembered the disintegrated decal from spraying the clear coat on. Upon closer inspection, I could tell from the pattern of rips that the joint had loosened, ripping the decal above it.


I removed the decal using masking tape. I actually felt a tingle of joy, ripping off a decal using tape ON PURPOSE. This problematic joint rears its head again.


I put CA glue into the gaps and repaired to a reasonable state, knowing that a decal was going to cover this area.


Once that decal was replaced and sealed, I continued the pastel wash. Here's a look at the nose. I mixed a batch of darker wash for the olive drab upper surfaces. I set the model down after the wash had been completed. I wanted to inspect the wash with fresh eyes prior to sealing it with a clear coat.


In the next session, I applied a semi-flat coat to seal the wash. I wanted some flatness in this coat to help with the next process, which will be salt-chipping.





Till next time!

She's scratching you back like an angry cat but you're getting the upper hand. You'll be glad to see the back of this one.

Coming along nicely John, despite the difficulties

Very very well done! Decals can be a bane!

Looks great so far John!